As a result of the limited availability and high cost of petroleum sources the cost of producing chemicals from such petroleum sources has been steadily increasing. Further, many in the chemical industry, as well as elsewhere, have raised the dire prediction of significant oil shortages in the not too distant future. As a result, the search for an alternative, low cost and more readily available raw material for chemical synthesis has been intense with the ultimate goal being the derivation of valuable chemical products from non-petroleum sources.
Such readily available sources are methanol, ethanol and their derivatives which may be manufactured from non-petroleum sources such as by fermentation or from synthesis gas, i.e. a mixture of oxides of carbon and hydrogen. Synthesis gas may be derived by the combustion of any carbonaceous material including coal, or any organic material, such as hydrocarbons, carbohydrates and the like. Thus, the use of methanol and its derivatives to form chemical products is particularly desirable in providing such a non-petroleum based route. The manufacture of methanol from synthesis gas by a heterogeneous catalytic reaction is presently an efficient commercial process.
Although methanol and its derivatives have for some time been considered as desirable starting materials for the manufacture of chemicals (which it is, e.g., in the manufacture of formaldehyde), the use of such as a replacement for petroleum or natural gas in commercial chemical syntheses has not been vast. If processes can be developed for the use of methanol and its derivatives for the commercial manufacture in large volume of chemical products or intermediates then the present dependence on petroleum sources as the basic raw material for chemical synthesis may be substantially lessened.
One proposed way to use methanol and its derivatives to manufacture chemical products is by catalytically converting them with crystalline aluminosilicate zeolites. Representative of the various contemplated processes using such crystalline aluminosilicate zeolites, and as more completely discussed hereinafter, are those processes disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,894,107; 4,046,825; 4,062,905; 4,079,095; 4,079,096; 3,911,041; and 4,049,573. What appears to be evident from the above patents, as well as other patents, is that the process is tied to the particular catalyst employed yielding differences in: product ratios (as well as by-product formation); catalyst life; conversion to product; selectivity to product; catalyst attrition; and the effects from additives to the catalytic process. The significance of these differences is readily apparent by reviewing the divergent results of the published art wherein various catalysts have been employed for the conversion of methanol to light olefin products. Representative of this art are: European Application No. 6,501 (catalyst is HZSM-5); European Application No. 2,492 (catalyst is Mn exchanged 13X zeolite); German Offen. No. 2,909,928 (catalyst is Fe exchanged Silicalite); Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 19, 2 (1980), 126-7 (catalyst is Mn exchanged Chabazite and erionite); South African No. 78/2527 (catalyst is CaH-Fu-1 zeolite); and European Application No. 11,900 (catalyst is boron modified silica).
For example, German Offen. No. 2,909,928 discloses a 95-100 percent conversion with 5.2 weight percent of the product as ethylene, whereas the publication Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 19, 2 (1980), 126-7 discloses a conversion of about 82 percent with 35.7 weight percent of the product as ethylene.
A brief discussion of selected patents and publications will further serve to point out differences involved in the conversion of methanol and derivatives thereof to light olefin products.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,905 discloses a process for the conversion of methanol, dimethyl ether or mixtures thereof to hydrocarbon products rich in ethylene and propylene using a catalyst comprising a crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite characterized by pores, the major dimension of which, are less than 6 Angstroms, the pores being further characterized by pore windows of about a size as would be provided by 8-membered rings of oxygen atoms. The process is alleged to have the capability under certain conditions of producing less than 20 weight percent methane by weight of the hydrocarbon product. The claimed correlation in the patent between pore size, process conditions and the level of methane production is admittedly specifically limited to the crystalline aluminosilicate zeolites, see the quote below.
The passage beginning at column 3, line 5 (also see Example 17) of U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,905 demonstrates this view:
"In addition to having the hereinabove described pore size characteristics, the crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite utilized as catalyst in the present process should have the capability of producing a hydrocarbon product containing less than 20 percent and preferably not more than 10 percent by weight of methane. Thus, the calcium form of zeolite A, having pores of approximately 5 Angstroms and commonly referred to as zeolite 5 A, while satisfying the pore size requirements for zeolites useful as catalysts in the process described herein, is nevertheless, not a particularly feasible catalyst since under the conversion conditions utilized in such process, this zeolite produces considerable amounts of methane, i.e. far in excess of the specified maximum of 20 weight percent characterizing the crystalline aluminosilicate zeolites which have been found to be effective in selectively converting methanol and/or dimethyl ether to ethylene and propylene."
Even when a crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite having the desired physical and chemical properties is employed it may not be useful as a catalyst according to the patent's process. Thus, this patent discloses that the chemical composition of an aluminosilicate which has a desirable pore size may or may not be determinative as to whether it will produce methane at a given rate such that less than 20 percent by weight methane is produced.
The specificity of the catalysts in this field is demonstrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,079,096 and 4,079,095 which disclose processes for the conversion of methanol, dimethyl ether or mixtures thereof to hydrocarbon products, such as ethylene and propylene, by contacting them with a catalyst comprising, respectively, a crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite of the erionite-offretite family and, the particular erionite-offretite of the crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite ZSM-34. The processes are limited to the use of crystalline aluminosilicates having substantially the same diffraction pattern as the erionite-offretite family.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,041 describes the conversion of methanol or dimethyl ether by contacting them with a crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite having a silica to alumina ratio of at least about 12, a constraint index of about 1 to 12, and containing phosphorous deposited on the crystal structure thereof in an amount of at least about 0.78 percent by weight. The phosphorous is disclosed as not in the framework of the crystalline aluminosilicate, as can be determined from the preparation procedure beginning at column 7, line 56 of the patent. The procedure set forth in the patent details that the crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite is formed prior to the addition of the phosphorus-containing compound, after which the phosphorous-containing compound is "reacted" with the surface sites of the zeolite to provide a surface treated material. Further, X-ray diffraction analyses of the zeolite before and after treatment with a phosphorus-containing compound showed substantially identical interplanar spacings (see Column 8, lines 54 to 64) indicating that no phosphorus was present in the framework. The surface treatment of the crystalline aluminosilicates is predicated on the patentees' belief that the number and strength of the aluminosilicate acid sites is related to the activity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,573 describes a crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite having a silica to alumina ratio of at least 12 and a constraint index within the approximate range of 1 to 12, and having deposited thereon (as one of several possibilities) between about 0.25 and about 10 percent by weight of phosphorus oxide in combination with between about 0.25 and about 5 percent by weight of boron oxide and between about 2 and about 15 percent by weight of magnesium oxide. As was the case in the above-discussed U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,041, the phosphorous oxide, boron oxide and magnesium oxide are not incorporated into the zeolite framework but, instead, are added to the zeolite after the framework of the aluminosilicate zeolite has been formed, i.e. are provided as a post treatment of the aluminosilicate zeolite, apparently for the same reason.
As is evident from the above, the interest in selective catalysts for the manufacture of light olefins from methanol has been achieved from a special aluminosilicate structure or by achieving modifications of aluminosilicates by deposition with special additives. As above-noted, one of these was to deposit a phosphorous-containing compound (termed "doping" herein) in combination with a number of other compounds on an aluminosilicate zeolite.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,911,041 and 4,049,573, reports the sorption of phosphate ions onto amorphous metal oxides and combinations of metal oxides. Such sorptions of phosphate ions has been intensively studied in such areas as in the chemistry of soil, although such studies have not heretofore reported a crystalline microporous phosphate-containing material. For example, see: S. S. S. Rajan and K. W. Perrott, J. Soil Sci., 26, 257 (1975); J. A. Veith and G. Sposito, Soil. Sci., Soc. Am. J., 41, 870 (1977); E. A. Ferreiro and S. G. DeBussetto, Agrochimica, 24,184 (1980).
It has been reported (D. McConnell, Ameri. Min., 37, 609 (1952)) that certain natural aluminosilicate zeolites may have PO.sub.2.sup.+ substitution into the tetrahedral framework with such a substitution being reported in viseite which is considered to be isostructural with analcime. D. McConnell reported an elemental composition of: EQU 5CaO:5Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 :3SiO.sub.2 :3P.sub.2 O.sub.5 :n H.sub.2 O.
This report should be viewed cautiously, if not with skepticism, in view of the considerable question of agreement on the X-ray powder diffraction patterns of such a substituted viseite and analcime owing to the highly defective structure (with dangling --OH groups wherever tetrahedral cation vacancies occur) resorted to in order to substantiate such structures as being isostructural.
R. M. Barrer and D. J. Marshall (J. Chem. Soc., 1965, 6616 and 6621) reported the attempted substitution of phosphorus in aluminosilicates during hydrothermal crystallizations in the system, in respect to the following: EQU Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 --SiO.sub.2 --P.sub.2 O.sub.5 -base-H.sub.2 O
Although phosphate was observed to co-precipitate with the aluminosilicates in this system there was no evidence that an aluminosilicophosphate framework had formed.
R. M. Barrer and M. Liquornick (J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans., 2126 (1974)) reported that by use of metakaolinite and phosphoric acid, and in some instances by further addition of silica, that zeolites were formed having an extremely low content of phosphorous with a maximum of 0.0117 atoms of phosphorus present per atom of aluminium. The authors explanation for this very low phosphorous content is that phosphate anions were trapped in cavities within the zeolite framework rather than actually being in the framework.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,892 discloses a process for making Zeolite X by mixing aluminum phosphate with hot sodium silicate to give an as-synthesized product having the general formula: EQU (0.5-1.1)Na.sub.2 O.sub.3 :Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 :(0-0.2)P.sub.2 O.sub.5 :(2.3-3.3)SiO.sub.2 :(0-7.2)H.sub.2 O
No chemical data are disclosed by the patentee for determining the framework structure, and the patent requires that the ratio of SiO.sub.2 to Na.sub.2 O in the reaction mixture must be less than 1.
The synthesis of aluminosilicophosphate zeolite analogues having phosphorus incorporated into the tetrahedral sites of the zeolite-type framework during hydrothermal synthesis employing substantial amounts of alkali metal cations has been reported by E. M. Flanigen and R. W. Grose at Advances in Chem., Series No. 101 pages 76-101 (1971). (Also see: Canadian Pat. No. 911,410, issued Oct. 3, 1972 to Robert W. Grose and Edith M. Flanigen.) In this report the authors reported compositions with the following types of zeolite-type frameworks: analcime, chabazite, phillipsite-harmotome, Type A zeolite, Type L zeolite, and Type B (P) zeolite. These compositions were reported to contain between 5 and 25 percent by weight P.sub.2 O.sub.5 incorporated into the zeolite-type frameworks. The substitution of phosphorus for silicon did not appear to impart beneficial properties to the compositions not possessed by analogous aluminosilicate compositions, although differences were reported in some of the compositions, e.g. reduced adsorption capacity and reduced thermal stability on thermal activation. Many of the physical and chemical properties of the phosphorus-substituted analogues were inferior to those of the unsubstituted species.